Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said President
Barack Obama was receptive Monday to suggestions from a group of law
enforcement officials called to the White House to discuss efforts to
reduce gun violence.

Villaseñor was one of 13 police chiefs and sheriffs from across the
country who met with the president, vice president and several Cabinet
officials on the administration’s multi-prong plan that was released in
response to a school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in December.

The meeting included police from Newtown as well as other towns that
have been the scenes of high-profile shootings in recent years, like
Aurora, Colo., and Tucson.

Villaseñor was TPD's chief during the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting that killed
six people and wounded 13, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. While his department did not handle the shooting response,Villaseñor said Monday there was not a single person in his community
who was not affected by the attack.

He said all of those at the meeting – which included chiefs from
Chicago and Philadelphia, which constantly battle gun violence –
supported the administration proposals outlined earlier this month.

That plan included a series of sweeping executive actions
that Obama can order without congressional action, including stronger
background checks, incentives for schools to hire police officers and
training for first-responders and school officials to handle
active-shooter situations.

The administration has also called on Congress to pass a ban on
assault-style weapons and a limit on ammunition clips, among other
legislative changes.

Villaseñor urged the president to continue his push for universal
background checks on gun buyers that would eliminate the gun-show
loophole, which lets people purchase guns from private sellers without a
background check. He said he also advocated for a system to track when
guns are sold, lost or stolen, similar to the licensing system that
exists for cars, which would help solve crimes.

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“I believe he was receptive,” Villaseñor said of Obama.

Villaseñor, who calls himself an avid supporter of the Second
Amendment, said it is time for a calm discussion about steps to reduce
gun violence. Those include what he calls commonsense steps like banning
high-capacity clips and assault rifles that are not used for leisure
activities like target practice or hunting, he said.

“People are so emotional about this issue, that it’s been one of the
major obstructions to meaningful discussion,” Villaseñor said.

Obama called those at Monday’s meeting the most important group to
listen to in the gun-violence prevention debate because they are “where
the rubber meets the road.”

The president said he also wanted “to hear their views in terms of
what will make the biggest difference to prevent something like Newtown
or Oak Creek from happening again,” according to a transcript released
by the White House.

In addition to stronger gun laws, Obama on Monday discussed
law-enforcement training and hiring, and equal access to resources in
rural and urban areas.

In an afternoon press briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney
called the late-morning meeting with the police officials “productive.”
He also said the president plans to press Congress to take action on
gun-violence prevention, according to a White House transcript of the
briefing.

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have your say

1 comment on this story

Assault rifles and high-capacity clips are and should be covered by the Second Amendment. If we as a people ever need to overthrow our government, .22 caliber six-shooters isn’t going to get the job done. Obama and his supporters know this, and that’s why they’re pushing for these reforms so hard. I really wish we could ask George Washington what he thinks about these proposed reforms.

What irritates me even more than the ignorance of the above issue is the private seller thing. If I own something, and I don’t want it anymore, I should have the right to sell it. In Obama’s world, is the only way I have to get rid of a gun I no longer want is to wait around for Kozachik to have another idiotic gun buy-back and get a $50 Safeway gift card?

Yes!

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